Seti's Heart (12 page)

“Never mind that, Chris. That’s between Seti and me,” Logan said. “Sit down, Seti. Please? I’m not going anywhere.”

Seti sat, but Logan could still feel his tension. He fairly crackled with it, his muscles bunching, drawing him up as tight as a tiger readying to pounce.

“Look, you and Seti don’t have to go anywhere. We can go,” Jason said, indicating himself, Leo, and Chris. “First, we can Google a search on the net, check out the newspaper sites. If Perry is on the level, he’ll have reported the break-in and something that bizarre will surely make it into the dailies. If not, then we can go to the Museum, ask a few questions. See if there’s any buzz about the sarcophagus and Logan.”

“That’s a great idea!” Leo smiled. “You know the graduate student crowd, Logan. They’re the best source for gossip. They know everything that goes on in the Museum.”

“I don’t know. I don’t want to put you in danger, or get you involved in any of this, guys,” Logan said, shaking his head.

“Good! It’s decided then,” Jason grinned.

Logan had to smile. Jason had an annoying habit of ignoring Logan and everyone else who disagreed with his ideas. “All right. But promise me that you’ll be discreet, and more than that, that you’ll be careful.”

“Yes, Mommy,” Jason said, laughing.

“It’s not funny, Jason. I’m serious.”

“I know, I know. We’ll be fine,” Jason said. “Come on, let’s go.”

***

Logan began to pace before his friends had even left the apartment. He moved from one end of the living room to the other and back again like a pendulum, his hands shoved deeply into his pockets, his chin tucked down.

Seti could feel his tension and understood it, as well as Logan’s reaction to it. He’d had occasion to feel the same anxiety once upon a time. Sending out scouts to seek information from the enemy’s camp was always risky. But while Seti’s concern at the time had been for the ramifications for his camp, should his enemies discover the spies he’d sent, he understood that Logan’s distress was caused by fear for his friends’ safety.

Ashai had been much the same.

Beautiful in a way most men could never dream of being, Ashai had possessed a soul that mirrored his physical being. He had been sweet and tender, patient beyond measure, and wise beyond his years. Ashai had faced Seti at his worst and gentled him with a single look or touch. His loss had decimated Seti, had pained him more than any wound Seti had ever sustained in battle.

Seti braced himself for the onslaught of rage and the burn of tears that always filled him when his thoughts turned to Ashai. For ages Seti had seethed silently in his tomb, unable to scream or cry, tortured by the memories of him.

Surprisingly, instead of the expected wave of fury there came only fond remembrance. The suffocating sadness that had always before overwhelmed Seti had been tempered with wistfulness, and the pain was no longer raw and devastating.

And Seti knew why.

In his heart of hearts, Seti believed that he had not only been released from his curse, but had been given another chance. He believed he had been given an opportunity to redeem himself, to prove that he was a better man and had learned from his mistakes.

He had been given Ashai again.

Not in the same physical shell. Logan was of a slighter build than Ashai had been, his coloring was much lighter, his facial features different. But those dazzling green eyes were unmistakable, as was the ka that looked back at Seti through them.
 

Logan Ashton had been born a man of the twenty-first century, but his soul was five thousand years old. Seti’s eyes had recognized him the moment he’d first seen Logan standing wide-eyed in the Museum, and his body had confirmed it when they’d made love the night before. No other man aside from Ashai had ever made Seti feel so complete, so fully and wholly satisfied, or so connected with another human being.

Five thousand years ago, Seti had made the unforgivable error of allowing himself to be seduced by power and greed. He had not been diligent in his oath; he’d let Ashai be taken from under his nose and had not acted swiftly enough to save his lover.

Seti would not, upon his life, make that same mistake again.

But at the moment Logan did not need to be protected. He needed succor, distraction from his worries, and ease of the tension that knotted his shoulders and knit his smooth brow. On the eve of battle in his old life, Ashai would have seen to Seti’s needs, easing the stress that tightened his muscles. Today, Seti could give Logan that same care, although it would take from Seti something he had never before offered to give anyone, including Ashai.

Not once, since he was a child playing with colorful stones at his father’s feet, had Seti lowered himself to kneel before anyone.
 

And yet for Logan, he didn’t need to think twice. Seti placed himself in Logan’s path and dropped gracefully to his knees. Looking up into Logan’s questioning eyes, he smiled and reached for the zipper of Logan’s jeans.

“Seti! What are you doing-”

“Let me do this for you, Logan. Let me ease your mind,” Seti said softly, when Logan pushed his hands away.

“No! Seti, I can’t. I’m too worried,” Logan said. “Come on. Stand up.”

“I kneel before you, Logan. I have never prostrated myself before anyone else. I do this because you need me,” Seti confessed. He felt himself blush, something he couldn’t ever recall doing before. Still, he couldn’t, wouldn’t let Logan suffer. He watched as Logan lowered himself to the floor, facing him.

“Seti,” Logan said, placing his hands on Seti’s cheeks. “I appreciate the thought. Really, I do. And I think I understand how difficult it is for you to make the offer. But the last thing I need right now is a blowjob. If you really want to know what I need, it’s just to be held for a while.”

Seti nodded, not quite understanding, but willing to give Logan what he asked for. Pulling Logan into his arms, he quietly held the man, both still kneeling on the floor.

After a while, Logan began to squirm. “My knees are killing me, big guy. Can we at least sit on the couch?”

Seti chuckled, nodding. They moved to the sofa. Seti put an arm around Logan’s shoulder, and Logan rested his head against Seti’s chest. Together, they watched the clock and waited to hear from Logan’s friends.

***

Across the street, in an empty apartment facing Jason’s building, a man sat in a lawn chair. He trained a pair of powerful binoculars out of the window, watching the inhabitants of apartment 509.

“Oh, man. Tell me I don’t have to watch this again.”

“What’s going on in there, Joe?” A second man, Harry, sat nearby, working over the remains of a Philly cheese steak sandwich. A long, twisted string of mozzarella cheese dangled from his bottom lip and there was a smear of ketchup on his cheek.

“I think the big one, that Seti guy, is about to go down on the other one. He’s trying to unzip Ashton’s pants.”

“Shit. Again? That’s fucking gross,” Harry said, wiping his mouth on his sleeve and belching. “Goddamn faggots. Can’t keep it in their pants for more than five minutes.”

“Oh, wait. No, they moved to the couch. They’re just sitting there now. Man, I thought I was going to have to watch the whole fucking freak show again.”

“There’s only the two of them in there now. Why don’t we move in? What are we waiting for?”

“The boss said that we gotta wait until we can get Ashton and Seti away from each other. Then we’re only to take Seti.”

“Why wait?”

“I don’t know why. I don’t ask questions. I say, ‘Yes, sir,’ and I do as I’m fucking told. And so do you,” Joe said, snagging one of Harry’s fries. Popping it into his mouth, he returned to his surveillance of the apartment.

 
Chapter Ten

Jason, Chris, and Leo raced up the stairs from the 79th Street subway station, dodging professionals with briefcases, upper crust housewives with frou-frou poodles, students lugging backpacks, and sightseers snapping cameras, turning onto Central Park West. The museum loomed up before them, a steady stream of tourists threading in and out of the front doors.

Stopping only long enough to purchase tickets, they made their way through the crowds and into the Museum.

“Where should we look first?” Leo asked, craning his head to see over the throng of people that filled the Main Lobby. The boys pushed their way through the crowd, heading toward the exhibits. “The cafeteria?”

“Maybe we should split up,” Chris said, as they paused at the entrance to the Hall of Mammals. “We could cover more ground that way.”

“No, something tells me that we should stick together,” Jason said. “I’m getting some pretty nasty vibes in here. I don’t like it.”

“Please tell me you’re not going to do the Amazing Karnak schtick again,” Chris said. “It’s really getting old, Jase. When are you going to admit that you don’t really have any psychic-”

“He was right about Logan and Seti, Chris. After what we saw Seti do in the apartment, how can you still doubt Jason?” Leo demanded.

That gave Chris pause. “Well, that could have been a lucky guess.”

“Yeah, and I could be the Tooth Fairy, but it’s highly doubtful.”

“Not the ‘fairy’ part. You’ve got that down pat,” Chris grumbled, earning himself a half-hearted punch in the arm from Leo.

“Let’s head down to the labs. We need to find a familiar face who knows what scuttlebutt is going around the Museum,” Jason said, ignoring Chris and Leo’s banter. He led them toward the stairs, keeping an eye out for security. Seeing no one looking in their direction, he opened the door and the three of them slipped into the stairwell.

One floor below the Main Lobby and one above the Dungeon lay a maze of laboratories where acquisitions were carbon-dated, x-rayed, and put through a battery of other tests to determine authenticity and age. Here was where the boys had their best chance of finding an acquaintance that could fill them in on what Perry had done – or had not done - about the break-in.

Peering into the window of each lab as they passed it, Jason finally spotted a woman who he’d taken several classes with while in school. She was bent over a Bunsen burner, watching a blue liquid bubble in a test tube.

Jason knocked on the door, cracking it open and sticking his head inside the lab. “Hey, Sheila!” he called, smiling when she looked up and returned his grin. “Got a minute?”

“Sure. What are you doing down here, Jason?” she asked, waving them inside the lab. “I didn’t know you had a position with the Museum. What department do you work for?”

“I don’t,” Jason replied. Noting her raised eyebrow, he quickly continued, “I’m here looking for Logan. You remember Logan Ashton, right?”

“Of course. He works for Perry now, doesn’t he? He’s probably down in the Dungeon.”

“Oh, um…yeah. Thanks. We’ll head down there next. Oh, hey, did your Department lose anything in the break-in last night? I heard that Perry lost something really valuable and-”

“Oh, my God! There was a break-in? What did they take?” Sheila exclaimed.

“Didn’t Perry mention anything to anyone about it? It’s really just a rumor that I’ve heard.” Jason said.

“Oh. You should know better than to listen to rumors, Jason. Did Logan tell you that? He must have been pulling your leg. Perry hasn’t said a word to anyone about a theft, and you know I would have heard about it if he did. Everyone would have heard about it. Perry is absolutely anal about the Dungeon – he would be screaming bloody murder if someone had broken into his sanctuary.”

“Damn that Logan,” Jason said, trying to keep the elation out of his voice. “You’re right, there must not be anything to it. I should have known better than to trust Logan. He probably just wanted to see how far he could yank my chain. He can be such a dick wad sometimes. Thanks, Sheila.”